The wheels on the bus go round and round ... and now, all the way to Tatura.
St Augustine’s College in Kyabram rolled into term 3 with a new set of wheels set to transfer students who live outside of the area.
The newly hired bus, decked out in a fresh coat of paint of St Augustine’s iconic navy blue and gold palette, started piloting students to and from Tatura on Monday, July 15.
While students who live in surrounding areas such as Stanhope or Tongala have government transportation systems that shuttle them to and from school, those who live in areas as far as Tatura are forced to use public transportation systems.
About 40 students who make the trek from Tatura to Kyabram every day for school used to have to take a public V/Line bus, which saw multiple complications arise surrounding the safety and wellbeing of those students.
After an incident that saw a student report an assault at the Kyabram Transit Station, St Augustine’s decided to take the situation into its own hands.
St Augustine’s College principal Jay Sutton said the school had “faced challenges” when it came to getting those students safely home.
“There’s no supervision at the Kyabram Transit Station, and some of our students have to walk down from the school to the station and board the bus with the public,” he said.
The 57-seater bus picks students up from outside of Sacred Heart Primary School in Tatura, and drops students off right in front of St Augustine’s College gates.
“We’re really excited. It’s a safe transport service that allows students to get picked up almost outside of home, straight to school, and then back home safely,” Mr Sutton said.
Mr Sutton said Tatura is a “growing area for the school”, and that after reaching out to parents about a potential bus for students they received “positive feedback”.
“Over the past few years we’ve seen huge growth of students in that area and we want to make sure that they stay safe,” he said.
The bus is through a third-party service, and will run every day of the school calendar.
The bus will also be used for school excursions and other activities that require a bus to transport students.
“We have a lot of events running throughout the week ... as long as the excursion doesn’t clash with the pick-up an drop-off times, we can start using the bus throughout the day as well,” Mr Sutton said.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to not only use it for a safety point of view, but also during the day for all students.”
Mr Sutton said there is hope in the future to potentially get more buses out to other areas where the government school buses do not reach.